Monday, 20 December 2010

Jansson's temptation and saffron pancake

I am off to spend the Christmas with the family in freezing Sweden. Can't wait for my Mum's Christmas food. It doesn't matter if I am using the same recipes as her, there is nothing like Mum's food.All the Christmas presents are wrapped, and most of our bags are packed. The girls are playing and I' m having a quick break with a cup of coffee. Thought I would leave you with these two, dead easy Christmas recipes.The first one is Jansson's temptation- Janssons frestelse, a potato gratin with anchovies. My personal Christmas favorite. And as you might know with anchovies, it does melt into the dish, so it's not really a "fishy" dish. Many non fish eaters have been converted with dish dish- trust me ;-)

Jansson's temptation - Janssons frestelse

potatoes (king Edward or similar)

yellow onion

milk

cream

anchovies

butter

bread crumbs

I'm not going to complicate things by giving you measurements for this dish, because it's really not necessary. Use as many potatoes as it takes to almost fill up your chosen ovenproof dish, ones you have peeled and cut your potatoes into thin "french fries". Finely slice one yellow onion and mix with the potato strips. Chop the anchovies roughly and add them as well. Pour over milk so it almost covers the lot, and top up with cream and sprinkle over the bread crumbs. Finish of with a few knobs of butter and bake in the oven for 3/4 of an hour - 1 hour 200C. The smell coming from the oven will be utterly heavenly.

The second recipe that I want to share with you is a dish that my auntie Tine makes for Christmas, Saffron pancake. A traditional dish from the island of Gotland, the largest island in Sweden.

Saffron pancake- saffrans pannkaka

one lot of rice pudding (see earlier blog post)

0.5g of saffron (1g if you want a more intense taste of saffron)

6 dl milk

1 dl cream

4 eggs

blanched and chopped almonds

1/2 dl sugar

Grind the saffron with a little bit of sugar in a pestle and mortar.Mix the powder with the milk and cream, and add it to the rice pudding.Add the eggs one by one, the sugar and the almonds (leave some for decoration).Pour the mixture into an oven proof dish and scatter the remaining almonds on top.Bake until the mixture is set 200C. This will depend on the depth of your oven dish app. 30-45 min.Serve with a geneorous helping of whipped cream and a dollop of your favourite jam.

Enjoy!

I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for the support you all have shown me from all over the world. And for all you positive comments and advise. They put a smile on my face every time! I'll be back in the new year with more mouth watering recipes.Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!